DISCLAIMER. None of the characters used are a creation of mine. They belong solely to JK Rowling.
Hermione was sat beneath the weeping willow in the grounds of her family Manor.
The wind swiftly blew away the errant strands of her hair away from her face as she contemplated over the last few months of her new life.
Rab had left for Hogwarts and since then she had felt considerably lonely. Rolf, although always concerned about his sister, wouldn't spend very long talking to her. He would instead prefer to teach her a thing or two in the art of deception which would one day prove to be really useful, she was sure. Another thing to aid her would be how she had already been trained in occlumency at the age of seven and eight. Purebloods, as it turned out, tended to be wary of anyone and everyone.
Her grandfather often accompanied her in the gardens during the evening but he was so often away at work managing the family estate that his company didn't do her a lot of good.
And this was why Hermione had to resort to sitting under her willow and think about everything that was going on.
She had finally accepted her fate. She had accepted the deaths of everyone she had lost. More importantly she had accepted her role in how things had played out. She had accepted her faults and the mistakes she had made vowing to herself never to repeat her foolishness.
She had also accepted that she would not be meeting Harry anytime soon but had not yet given up hope. She never would.
She was now giving herself time. She was allowing herself to heal. She had to. If she didn't she wouldn't be able to function. She had to work on her ability to stay calm and collected and not break down and run away from her problems the way she had that night in June. She couldn't afford to look weak. It was necessary to maintain her image as a remarkable witch. She would need to enter Voldemort's inner circle one day either directly or by manipulating one of her brothers.
It would undoubtedly grieve her but she was in a war, after all although nobody knew about it just yet. And war demanded certain things. So if she had to resort to petty manipulation she was very much up for it.
She had agreed to view things not in black and white. The world was grey.
The last month she had spent with Rab had also strengthened her bond with him. Most nights she would wake up screaming at the top of her lungs and Rab's room being the closest to hers, he would very swiftly come to her aid and help her go back to sleep. He never questioned her in the mornings and instead chose to watch her very carefully.
Hermione had grown nervous though. She was scared she would one day scream somebody's name and ruin everything. She could not risk revealing her identity or her knowledge of the future. She had to be extremely careful. And so after a lengthy research at the vast library at the Lestrange estate had helped her draw out various conclusions about the Trace.
Her body had been young of course and so had retained the trace. But Hermione had always doubted the credibility of it. In a pureblood estate it was hardly an easy job to pinpoint where the magic had come from. She had often thought about it in her previous life and had come to conclude that it was merely a means to regulate magic at muggleborn dwellings.
Risking quite a bit, Hermione had begun to silence her room at night to prevent her screams from getting out but had found that Rab would still persist and decide to spend the night with her most of the times this rendering her little adventure with traceable magic of no use.
Her nightmares has steadily reduced in number since the last one month during which she had come to accept her fate. She was proud of it. Her nightmares had often left her reeling with the aftereffects of the Cruciatus. Her present body may not have endured it but her mind had.
It would take sometime to get used to it. After all there was nothing she could do to escape her demons. She had to live with them.
Her memories would also keep her up at night sometimes. Those were the nights she especially despised bringing to her mind the happiest of her days. Those always hurt more for she knew in the heart of her hearts that she would never get them back try as she might. Her future with her loved ones would not be the same. She would perhaps now be more of an aunt to Ron and Ginny than a friend. That is, only if the Weasleys ever decided to trust a Lestrange. But perhaps they would. Hermione did plan to join the Order and one day the truth of her existence was bound to come to notice.
She sighed and closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep under the willow. She was once again visited by the laughing faces of Harry and Ron arguing over a chessboard while Remus lectured Sirius somewhere in the background to try and not to pick fights with Molly.
She was woken up by a loud CRACK.
Hermione got up and stood on her wobbly feet immediately falling back in a defensive state but righted herself as soon as she saw Blinky looking back at her.
'Miss Hermy, a Mister Black and a Mister Black is come to see you. They is waiting for you in the garden.'
Hermione smiled and was greatly pleased that Sirius and Regulus had accepted her invitation to come see her after having taken permission from Papa.
Hermione followed Blinky to the gardens and saw Sirius and Regulus dressed in black slacks and cashmere cardigans.
She laughed, 'Do you ever wear a colour other than black?'
Sirius smirked, 'Its all in the name, love.'
Regulus raised his brow, 'I thought you hated your name.'
'Our name, brother dearest. But don't you worry, once I'm at Hogwarts I'm going to have a wild wardrobe change.'
'Green and silver won't be much different than this bleak colour you always choose to wear, Sirius.' Hermione noted, wondering if he already had hopes of being a Gryffindor.
Sirius plopped down on a chair as regulus gracefully settled into his. Hermione was please once again to see that Sirius had begun to trust her enough to be himself around her and drop the aristocratic act. But then again it wouldn't take a lot for a child to trust you, would it.
Sirius responded with an evil grin, 'Oh it shall be scarlet and gold, Miss Lestrange. My mother is bound to have a fit.'
Regulus scoffed, 'Nobody in the family has been a Gryffindor.'
'I shall most likely set a new trend then. What about you, Hermione? Plan on being another Slytherin addition to your family?'
Hermione had to actually think about it. Surely the Hat wouldn't place her in Slytherin. 'We will have to see about that.'
'Yeah well whatever it is, you seem alright. You've passed my test.' He laughed.
The three children sat talking for a while when Blinky appeared once again with another house elf called Leder. They carried plates filled with sweets and a tray of tea and biscuit.
They vanished and the kids bit into their food with enthusiasm.
Sirius commented, 'If the food is half as good as this at the wedding come Christmas, I will gladly marry you one day Hermione for a life filled with such delicacy every day.'
Hermione blushed. Did her best friends godfather just hit on her?
Hermione chuckled, 'I think I'd rather give away that privilege to Regulus.'
Regulus laughed, 'Maybe I don't swing that way.'
Hermione was surprised. She could have probably expected such a comment from Sirius but Regulus even joking about preferring the male kind over the female was a shock. She had believed that Regulus had been a blood purist. A racist who had willingly chosen to follow Riddle and had left after a long time of inquisition on his own part but here he was talking to her so freely about things that were clearly a taboo especially in this time and in the lifeblood society. Hermione couldn't help but think that Regulus must have then brainwashed himself so as to fool not only Riddle but also his mother for the entirety of his life. Her heart really did go out to him.
She wondered when it would change for him. When he would begin to act like a bigoted, entitled pureblood heir.
Sirius barked out a laugh, 'I'm rubbing off on you, Reggie. Don't let mother catch you saying things like that.' He messed up his brother's hair.
Late at night that day she lay in bed thinking. She wouldn't have to make a move or even strategize for the next few years. She had only some goals for the coming years.
Save her brothers. Save Regulus. Save Narcissa. Save Lucius. Save Severus. Save Peter.
She realised that she had been placed at this particular moment of time for a reason. Maybe the fates had showed her a little mercy and had meant for her to have this second chance at childhood. Perhaps she was meant to enjoy her years at Hogwarts once again before things turned ugly again.
The war could not be stopped. It would come get her eventually. But for now, she would gladly revel in her newfound friendship for as long as she could.